No NHL For Seattle: The Emerald City Loses Again

For the second time in a span of less than two months, Seattle was slapped in the face by a professional sports league. Hope instilled in the residents of the Emerald City that an NBA franchise was returning to Seattle city gave way on May 15, and a very similar occurrence took place late Tuesday night, only in this instance it was hockey.

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The highly anticipated meeting of the Glendale City Council ended with a 4-3 vote in favor of a lease agreement to keep the NHL’s Phoenix Coyotes in Arizona. Had the lease agreement by denied by council members, Seattle was one of the top options for relocation of the team.

The Coyotes franchise, which has been owned by the NHL since 2009, was officially sold to Anthony LeBlanc and his group IceArizona. The NHL won’t be coming to Seattle any time soon.

The council was initially wary of LeBlanc’s group, but just before Tuesday’s meeting IceArizona partnered with a company that will assist with the promotion of Jobing.com Arena. This was perhaps the reason for the result of the voting.

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman had said that the Coyotes would be playing elsewhere as soon as next season if the lease was not approved. Yes, Seattleites can still look forward to the Seahawks making a run at this year’s Super Bowl, but their wishes of having a hockey or basketball team have been postponed once again.